Pentagon Taps MIT to Study Controversial New Mexico Power Line

The Defense Department has asked MIT Lincoln Laboratory to conduct a study of the potential impact a planned $1.5 billion electric transmission line will have on test operations at the White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico.

The transmission line, which has been in development by SunZia LLC of Phoenix since 2009, won Bureau of Land Management approval on June 14 for a preferred route across the northern extension of the missile range. On Aug. 7, the Pentagon told BLM that the proposed route would interfere with weapons tests on the range, which in turn would threaten national security. Read more...